Cutter assembly for rotary plows



"Aug. 30, 1949. L. L. PATTERSON 2,480,419

CUTTER ASSEMBLY FOR ROTARY PLOWS Filed May 19, 1945 s Sheets-Sneet 1' Jig/g1.

Lou/s L. PflTTE/ZSON,

- INVENTOR.

ATTOQNEy.

Aug. 30, 1949. L. PATTERSON 2,480,419

CUTTER ASSEMBLY FOR ROTARY'PLOWS Filed May 19, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet 2 r 40 39 5 57 2 Lows L 7165555 g- 1949- R 1.. L. PATTERSON 2,480,419

CUTTER ASSEMBLY FOR ROTARY FLOWS Filed May 19, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet s Fga 9 10+ 7 '1 m Ma Lou/5 L ,PHTTEESO/V,

NVENTOR.

BY Jqrrokyz Patented Aug. 30, 1949 2,480,419 CUTTER ASSEMBLY FOR ROTARY PLOWS Louis L. Patterson, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Automatic Screw Machine 00., Los Angeles, Y

Calif.

Application May 19, 1945, Serial No. 594,712

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a power driven rotary plow structure.

More specifically speaking, the invention pertains 'so that type of rotary plow which is embodied in an agricultural implement adapted to be trailed by a self-propelled tractor provided with an engine which not only propels the tractor and the implement but which is also connectable with the rotary plow structure of the latter to rotate said plow structure as the machine advances over the surface of the ground being cultivated and/ or tilled in preparation for planting.

Hitherto, in mechanism of the above stated kind difliculty has been encountered by reason of the side thrust which has resulted from the rotation of the plow blades, when the latter are arranged in a spiral manner around the power driven shaft, such side thrust rendering the machine very unstable in its operation and tending to steer the trailed vehicle completely off its course.

With -a view to overcoming the above stated defects, it is one of the objects of this invention to provide, in that type of cultivators wherein spiral plow blades are mounted upon a power driven shaft structure, such an arrangement of the plow blades that all tendency to a "draft toward one side or the other of the machine will be eliminated by reason of the endwise thrust by the plow blades carried by certain portions of the shaft structure being counteracted by an oppositely directed thrust produced by the plow blades mounted on other portions of said shaft structure.

Another object is to provide, as a new article of manufacture, sets of sleeve members having integral with or secured to them spiral plow blades so arranged that said sleeve members may be substituted for the blade carrying members of rotary plows now on the market, thereby overcoming the side thrust defect which now exists in some rotary plows.

Still another object isv to provide an improved mechanical means to clear away weeds or debris that'may tend to wind around the rotary plow structure and thereby obstruct the efficient operation of the machine.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide, in conjunction with the spiral rotary plow members assembled in such a manner as to avoid Side thrust, such a formation and positioning of the assembled blade-carrying members that, as to contiguous blade-carrying members, that the trailing edge of every member overlaps or interengages with the leading edge of its companion, thereby preventing any unstirred strips of 2 soil remaining behind the advancing machine.

Yet another object is to provide a mechanical cultivator which combines with the aforementioned thrust equalizing feature a smooth plowing. feature so that no objectionable furrow or ridges are formed in the soil as the machine advances.

A further and more specific object is to provide, in a rotary plow blade assembly, between adjacent sections of the assembly, an improved joint structure or connecting means which cooperates in a more advantageous manner with the plow blades of the assembly, so that in assembling'adjacent sections their blade portions are automatically properly spaced circumferentially about the axis of rotation of the assembly.

Other objects, features and advantages of invention will hereinafter appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate what at present are considered to be preferred embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the preferred embodiment, parts being broken away to contract the view and to show underlying structures.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective View of the thrust section at the left end of the cutter series as seen in Fig. 1, the cutter disk being included in the view.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a typical intermediate cutter section.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation of the cutter assembly and adjacent mounting sections illustrating the relation of the blades of contiguous sections to each other.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 55 of Fig. 4. In the view is included a section of the conventional shield cover.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation showing the arrangement of the weed-removing wipers.

Fig. 7 is a developed View of the cutter assembly.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal midsection partly in rear elevation of an alternate embodiment of the cutter assembly, this view being somewhat similar to Fig. 4.

Figs. 9 and 10 are sections taken on lines 9-9 and l0l0, respectively, of Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is a developed view of the rotary cutter assembly shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 12 is a section taken on line |2l2 of Fig. 10.

Referring in detail to the drawings and describing first the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7, the implement frame H] has its front portion supported by a pair of ground wheels H and is designed for being con- U nected with a tractor by any suitable draft appliance.

Upon the midwidth, rear part of said frame I is mounted a gear housing I2 which contains a master or primary gear l3 fixed to a shaft Hi, this gear shaft being connected by a universal joint structure l5 to the power transmission shaft l6 which, in turn, is operatively connectable with the take-off shaft of the tractor which trails the implement.

Returning to the primary gear l3, this gear is shown as being of the bevel type and in mesh witha driven bevel gear 20 fixed to. a horizontal shaft 2| which extends into a housing 22, sprocket wheel 23 being secured to said shaft 2| within this housing. A bearing member 25 supports the outer end of said shaft 2|.

A sprocket chain 26 passes over wheel 23 and: conveys power therefrom to a driven sprocket wheel 2". also. within housing 22, the latter wheel being fixed to the stub shaft 28 at the right hand side of the machine as viewed in Figs. 4 and 8, there being at the opposite side of the machine a corresponding stub shaft 28, the latter stub shaft having a diametrically enlarged intermediate portion 29a.

Thestub shafts, 28 and 2,9 ar respectively supported by. suitable bearing means 30-and 3|. Said stub, shafts have inner end portions 2% and 2%, see Fig. 8, fitting tightly within and being welded or otherwise secured to the tubular sleeve 32. Around thissleeve at the inner side of said bearing means 30; is shown a spacing collar 33, and around thesleeveat theinner side of the enlargement 29a is shown a spacing collar 34, Said sleeve 33 extendsbetween the enlargement 29a on the left to the sprocket- 2", on the right and has a pressed fit within the series of hollow bladecarrying. cutter sections designated. from, right to left'as 35,, 36, 31, 38, 39v and 40.

Describing next the righthand cutter section 35, said. section comprisesa sleeve portionv 42, having a pair of. spiral fins. 33 cast integral therewith te. each end of which is bolted. a spiral cutting blade 44 having a cutting edg all portions of whieh. are located radially beyond the-outer edge of the fin which support it. The two fins shown cogperate. toform a double spiral said fins being of equal spirality and extending along parallel, diametrically opposite lines. as additionally illustratediu the developed surface shown in Fig. 7

The right hand end of said. sleeveportion 42, as seen in Figs. 4, 6 and 7, has a squarely cut flat endportion which abutsthe peripheral portion of thecollar 33, whileithe opposite end-of saidsleeve portion 42, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7, has a mortiseandtenon fitin relation to the next adjacent cutter section tt which it, abuts. In Figs. 2 and 3, two of. the hub portions which are provided at the ends of contiguous plow blade-carrying sleeves are shown facing. each other, each being provided with, mortise. and tenon joint portions a -and b, the joint portions of each, hub. portion being fittable..into those of the other.

In order to insure that. the rotatable plow blade assembly actsupon the entireswath of earth being cultivated, the attaching edgesof the adjacent and portionsof contiguousblades in the assembly, though they do not contact each other, are-inan qveriappingrelation as indicated atjoint portions a. and. binfFig. 7. Said overlapping'blade end portions. are equally spaced apartand each of them extends t the end of the midwidth ofthe tenon of. the plow section which supports it. or at least past the mid-depth portion thereof.

In Fig. 5 it will be seen that the typical fins and cooperating plow blades are disposed diametrically opposite to each other, so that when the plow section 35 is joined to the section 36, as shown in Fig. 7, the ends of the adjacent opposed plow blades will be ninety degrees apart.

From an inspection of Fig. 7 it will be seen at the various (1 and b designations that the, same is true of the various plow blade sections leftward of this section.

To the outer side of each fin and blade of end section 35 is secured an angular Wiper bracket 47, the purpose of which is to prevent weeds from winding upon that end of the cutter sections and tending to obstruct the operation of the cutters. These weed wipers are shown only in Figs. 4, 6, 8; 10 and 2. In the latter view one limb 41a of the bracket is shown attached to the blade 43a so as to position its other limb 43b in an overlying relation to one or the other of the end bearings of the plow blade assembly to prevent weeds from winding in between the inner end of such bearing and the adjacent blade-carrying part.

Describing more in detail plow blade sections 35, and 36, these sections are alike except that section 35. has one end only provided with a mortise and tenon joint whereas section 36 has both of its ends provided therewith. As to sections 31-39,, these sections are the same in pattern as section 3.6, as for example the section shown in Fig. 3. As to section 48,, this section is the same pattern, except that as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, ithas a flat cutter disk 50 secured concentrically to it, said disk occupying a plane extending at a right angle to the axis of the cutter assembly and having adiameter substantially equal to the diameter which is common, to, the various cutter blades.

Sections 40, 38 and. 36 are thrust sections and sections 3.9,- 31 and 35, are equalizing sedions. In order that the thrust produced by sections 40, 33, 36v canbe equalized, sections 3.9, 31. and 35 have their plow blades wound around the axis of the assembly in a direction reverse to that of thereinaining sections.

As shown in section in Fig. 5 and partly shown in plan in Fig. 1, over the rotary thrust and equalizer sections is mounted a conventional shieldv or ground leveling guard which has its upper edge portion hinged to, a transverse supporting. member 66 carried by the implement frame ina superjacent, relation to said thrust and equalizer sections.

Describing the alternate embodiment of the invention. as shown in Figs. 8. to 12, the main difference is. that in said, embodimentv a triple, instead of a double spiral fin and blade structure is shown for each of the rotary thrust and equalizer sections with a result that the blade-carrying fins of each, section are 60 instead of 90. degrees apart. Corresponding parts of the modified structure arelettered in the samemanner except that the letter a is afiixed to the fin and blade structures. Inthe developed view shown in-Fig. 11 the triple character andv equal circumferential spacing of the blades and fins is further illustrated. The arrows below said view indicate the manner in which the various equalizing sections offset the thrust produced by the thrust sections. Also a, different structure has been substituted for the mortise and tenonjoints shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 adjacent rotary cutter sections.

What is claimedis:

1. In a plowhaving a rotary shaft,,a plurality of separable plow sections mounted in aligned positions on the shaft and including a plurality of sections intermediate a pair of end sections, each of said intermediate sections comprising a sleeve fitted axially on said shaft and having mortise and tenon formations at each end, a plurality of parallel ribs fixed on the sleeve and spiralling in one direction, a spiral plow blade fixed to and projecting radially outward of each rib, the opposite ends of each rib extending onto the projecting tenons at the ends of the sleeve, contiguous sections having their mortise and tenon formations in interlocking relation and the ribs and blades reversely spir-aled, with the adjacent ends of the ribs and blades circumferentially spaced and overlapping axially of the plow assembly.

2. A plow as claimed in claim 1 wherein the end edges of each of said rib and blade assemblies are in co-planarrelation radially of the axis of the sleeve and shaft.

LOUIS L. PATTERSON.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

